| Pleistocene coyote | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Genus: | Canis |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | †C. l. orcutti
|
| Trinomial name | |
| †Canis latrans orcutti | |
The Pleistocene coyote (Canis latrans orcutti), also known as the Ice Age coyote, is an extinct subspecies of coyote that lived in western North America during the Late Pleistocene era. Most remains of the subspecies were found in southern California, though at least one was discovered in Idaho. It was part of a North American carnivore guild that included other canids like foxes, gray wolves, and dire wolves.[2] Some studies suggest that the Pleistocene "coyote" was not in fact a coyote, but rather an extinct western population of the red wolf (C. rufus).[3]
- ^ Merriam JC (1912) The fauna of Rancho La Brea, part II, Canidae. Memoirs of the University of California 1:215–272.
- ^ Meachen, J., Samuels, J. (2012). Evolution in coyotes (Canis latrans) in response to the megafaunal extinctions. PNAS : 10.1073/pnas.1113788109
- ^ Sacks, Benjamin N.; Mitchell, Kieren J.; Quinn, Cate B.; Hennelly, Lauren M.; Sinding, Mikkel‐Holger S.; Statham, Mark J.; Preckler‐Quisquater, Sophie; Fain, Steven R.; Kistler, Logan; Vanderzwan, Stevi L.; Meachen, Julie A. (September 2021). "Pleistocene origins, western ghost lineages, and the emerging phylogeographic history of the red wolf and coyote". Molecular Ecology. 30 (17): 4292–4304. doi:10.1111/mec.16048. ISSN 0962-1083. PMID 34181791. S2CID 235672685.